Kyungsoo stood beneath the blinding lights in hues of white, green, blue and red, his ears almost deafened at the euphoric screams of the audience. He took a deep breath to calm his palpitating heart. His mind, then, was calm but his hands, shivering.

"Hyung, are you alright?" A familiar sweet voice lingered against his ear as he felt a warm hand above his.

He turned around seeing a worried Jongin looking straight through his soul, as if reading him like an open book. Still, he kept his default face on and he nodded in response but not convincing enough to the younger. Knowing that this man before him is a persistent one, he spoke under his heavy breath, "I'm fine."

Jongin just sighed in defeat, worry over his hyung not leaving his mind. He lightly squeezed the palm of his hyung's hand before whispering, "Just always remember that I'm here whenever you start to feel uncomfortable or something."

He bobbed his head slowly before giving Jongin two thumbs up and a small smile to which the latter smiled back at. Moments later, he was left at the corner of the stage as Jongin reunited with his other hyungs, plus Sehun. He glanced at the sweet man one last time. He really wanted to wrap his arms around him, that moment but they both knew that they could only do such intimate actions in the four corners of their shared room at the dorm.

Then, he twisted his head to look at the anticipated crowd, once again, while waiting for his part of the song they were currently singing at the moment. Despite the loudness of the crowd's roar, he could only hear his heart that was pumping hard against his sternum with the excitement that rushed through his veins. It was all he dreamed of ever since he started singing - to be able to stand in front of a thousand people, singing his heart out like there is no tomorrow.

"And that's a wrap!" Chanyeol cheerfully declared before gulping a bottle of water in go. Kyungsoo softly laughed at this then shook his head, thinking how this gentle giant right here could act like his energy was not drained at all after the concert they held.

"So what should we do after this?" The eight boys turned their heads, in synchronization, to Minseok because one: he did not talk that much and hearing him talk especially in times like this is a miracle and is worth listening and second: he was the hyung meaning he was the oldest and with that, he deserved respect.

"Have a drink? Movie night at the dorm? Eat samgyupsa-"

"Eat samgyupsal! That's a good idea, hyung! Let's eat some tonight. I'm dead hungry." Baekhyun whined as he tapped his growling stomach. Junmyeon who was cut by the younger just held his glare at him in mid-air but laughed afterwards.

He was Byun Baekhyun after all, the cunning vocalist that pranked on almost everyone. And he was Kim Junmyeon, the kindest leader any group could have.

On the other hand, an absent-minded Kyungsoo was taken away from his daydream, fragments of memories from the concert being glued together in a scenario in his mind, by an arm around his waist and a chin above one of his narrow shoulders.

He knew very well who it was, "Hmm, Jongin?"

The taller just shook his head in response and mumbled an 'I just missed you' to which the smaller grinned at, from ear to ear.

"But we just saw each other on the stage a while ago...?"

Jongin protruded his plump lips into a small pout and gripped on his waist tighter. Kyungsoo's cheeks turned a shade darker at his actions. How can this person be y and cute at the same time?

"Can't I even miss my squishy boyfriend, hm?" Kyungsoo was, then, bombarded with peppered kisses around his cheeks down to his neck and it tickled him. A lot, actually. And that was the reason why the room that was once filled with heavy breathing and rustling sounds, was suddenly clouded by a hearty laughter by the short guy.

"Ehem, I guess you can do that in the dorm instead. Hello? We exist?"

The two immediately pulled away from each other with shades of light red on their faces. "S-sorry, Sehun."

And so their plan beforehand was carried out smoothly. They went to a restaurant just near the concert venue and hungrily devoured all the plates of samgyupsal that were laid on their tables. Even though, burps were released one by one, this did not hinder them to finish several plates within minutes.

It was one of the nights that Kyungsoo was comfortably having. No hectic schedules, no crazy paparazzi and obsessed fans stalking around, no critics that would judge the micrometers of their actions, no stress. It was just Kyungsoo with the family he had grown to be fond with, chatting with each other and catching up on the moments each one had missed.

Sometimes he wished that he could go back to his normal life where he could just be what he was. However, this was impossible already and he shook his thoughts away further thinking that he was already at his peak for him to quit at that moment.

The trip back to their dorm was a quiet one for everyone already had their eyes closed, dozing off to Neverland. But Kyungsoo could not do so. He did not know why but his heart would not just calm down in his chest. As if, something would happen.

Hence, he had his eyes bore on the scenery outside the tinted window, gazing at the bokeh lights that gave illumination in the dark night.

"Hyung..." He suddenly heard someone called and to be honest, he got surprised because of that.

He released a soft sigh and replied, not turning his head towards the owner of the voice he just heard. "Yes, nini?"

It was an endearment he came to call him since God-knows-when to which, Jongin could only smile widely at. He would say it was too cheesy and girly to call him that but if it was Kyungsoo who would call him at such way then why not?

Jongin buried his face against the crook of Kyungsoo's neck. He inhaled his hyung's scent that reminded him of vanilla and fresh strawberries.

"I love you, Kyungsoo-hyung."

The owner of the mentioned name was taken aback at his words. Simply because, he seldom said such sweet things to him, not that he ever complained. In fact, he would melt into a puddle of goo especially when Jongin used a certain tone of voice that was clearly intended just for him.

He smiled for the nth time, bringing his hands to caress the younger's brown locks. "I love you more, Jongin-ah."

And that was when he saw a blinding light around them. He covered his eyes not wanting to see what was there to come but he did hear the sound of the tires, carelessly rubbing themselves at the cement, hoping they could come into a break but they wouldn't, at the moment.

He felt himself roll up and down, right and left, his head bumping against the walls of the van and he swore that he already felt blood gushing from his head at that exact moment. He whimpered at the pain but he did not dare to open his eyes even for a moment.

The last thing he knew was, he was already lying at the ground. Broken glasses came crashing at him together with the fame, the gold, the love and the glory that he worked hard for over the years.

For the last time, he slowly opened his eyes and looked from left to right, examining where the other members were. On the left was Jongdae who looked so lifeless. His lips were already pale and he was bathed with crimson blood. Just the mere sight brought him to tears. On the far right was Junmyeon who, on the other hand, looked so peaceful lying there, also soaked in his own blood.

He moved his eyes, trying so hard to find where Jongin was, and when he gazed at the van he was in a moment ago, he saw his boyfriend who was sitting there, lifeless as well. He forced his voice to come out from his larynx to call out his name but nothing came out. Giving up, he whimpered and cried at the great amount of things he had lost at one snap.

Seconds past and he was slowly feeling numb all over his body. His eyes rolled heavenwards and fixed his gaze at the midnight sky which was embedded with millions of stars.

When he was young, he had thought of becoming a star. Because he knew that they were unreachable and they were shining so bright. He wanted to be the same. And when he became an artist, he thought that he was already one of them.

But as he continued to stare at these twinkling gems, he came to realize that they were too unreachable that even Kyungsoo could not be as bright and as high as them. He could not ever be like them.

Finally, he closed his eyes, darkness eating him whole.

He woke up to the sound of the chirping birds and the feeling of the morning breeze damping on his skin. Not wanting to rise up yet, he turned his body away from the sun's direction and covered himself with blanket. But then, he just realized something.

That he was alive.

And that was decided to open his eyes and sit up on his bed. He roamed his eyes around, his head turning side wards from time to time. He learned that the curtains were in pastel colors, posters from several anime series were posted on his wall and his bedsheets had pororo prints on them, like his own bedroom back in their house in a certain village in Goyang.

A soft knock on his room's door startled him and moments later, the door revealed that his mom was the one behind it.

"Good morning, Kyungie." He secretly snickered at the nickname his mom had given him but since he missed her dearly, he let it pass. He stood up in a quick manner and enveloped her in a warm embrace. "Mom, I missed you so much." He chanted against his mom's cheek.

"Eh? But we just saw each other last night?"

"Don't try to joke at me mom, you know I wouldn't buy it. You do know, I wasn't at home for several months because I was busy with schedules and concerts-"

His mom's expression suddenly turned sour. Her eyebrows raising an inch high while her hands slowly placing themselves on the sides of her waist.

"Didn't I tell you to stop having fantasies about being an idol? Don't you realize that we want you to have a degree instead of being stupidly involved in... in what do you even call that kind of work?"

She heaved an exasperated sigh and paced towards the door, turning her back from Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo stood there, motionless and a confused expression painted all over his face.

"Your dad and I will be downstairs. Hurry up or the food will be cold. Then we'll decide what we will do for your birthday this Wednesday."

He motioned his small framed body towards his desk then he sat there, his palm cupping his cheeks. It was strange, so strange. Because her mother sounded like the mother he knew 4 years ago. She was the mother that hated his dreams of becoming an artist and disgusted idols that she saw on television. And the boy knew well that his birthday was coming up 4 months later, not 2 days later. It was just November that time.

He was about to stand up when he noticed his reflection at the small mirror, also standing at the middle of the desk. That caused him to form creases on his forehead and had a few more questions popped up on his mind.

He lifted his fragile fingers to touch his chin then trailing them up to his cheeks and to his forehead, sometimes turning his head from side to side. Those features which he was familiarized so well, those were the features he had when he was 18.

The time when he was still a normal kid that had a routine of going in and out of their house just to go to school every day and watching pororo video clips every night.

Now, he became a little more confused than he already was.

EXO, the fame, the popularity, being D.O...

Was it all just a dream?